What A Great Game!

Puppies!

Ah, Super Sunday. The day when we get Animal Planet's Puppy Bowl VI. Lots and lots of puppies, the Kitty Halftime Show, and new this year: the furry hamsters in the blimp and the laziest floppy eared bunnies ever as "cheerleaders". Great deal of fun. And an annual tradition and...

Oh, what game on Super Sunday were you talking about?

An Odd Day

Felt under the weather for much of the day. We were supposed to go to GVSU this afternoon to see Into the Woods. GVSU did a wonderful production of this some years ago, and we were dying to see if they could do as good a job. Alas, I didn't think I could sit in a theatre seat for a couple of hours. Good news -- we can get tickets for next weekend, hopefully.

Took a nap around 5:30pm, woke up feeling a lot better.

Super Bowl XLIV

New Orleans Saints v. Indianapolis Colts

By the time I got up from my nap, Indy was up 3-0. I was opposed to the Colts leaving Baltimore, but Indianapolis and its fans didn't deserve my ire, especially as the Indianapolis Colts began to play well and become a decent team. Even gave props to Payton Manning. But he's been there before. And frankly, I've had a soft spot for the New Orleans Saints for a long time. Good looking colors. Loyal fans, even in the paper bag days. Even appreciated that the New Orleans cheerleaders could wear pants and still look good in black and gold. And dare I say Katrina? New Orleans could really use this Super Bowl -- they went nuts just getting there. Rachel Maddow's show on MSNBC was done in New Orleans on Friday, and it was pretty amazing. Excuse me, the Rachel Maddeaux Show. (grin) Geaux Saints.

For a game predicted to have stratospheric scoring, Indy getting a FG and a TD, and NO getting two FGs didn't seem all that stellar. Yet it was a good game. Colts dominated the first quarter, but the Saints did not give up in Q2.

It was Colts over Saints, 10-6 at the half.

Who?

The halftime show with The Who had been the subject of a contest on Grand Rapids WLAV-FM. Try to guess the first four songs of the medley they were likely to do. I'd heard by Friday that the medley was to be five songs, but other than order, I figured I knew what the set would be:

CSI Themes I, II and III (grin) and something from Tommy. I mean, this is CBS doing the Super Bowl. They've gotten The Who for the halftime show -- and their songs provide the opening theme music for three of CBS' biggest hit series? Puh-lease, of course this was going to be the playlist for the set.

Lightshow was nice -- glad they didn't clutter the stage or field with "fans" or dancers. Lead voices a bit weathered, but these guys are "old". Always liked the complexity of the chords and bridges for The Who.

Explosive Second Half

Who opens the second half of the Super Bowl with an onside kick? The Saints, that's who. And it worked -- after they sorted out an enormous scrum. Colts may've led at the half, but the Saints were working on like 13 unanswered points.

A really evenly matched game. At one point, when the Saints took over on downs from the Colts, both teams had had 48 plays and the times of possession were like 24:30 and 24:31. Close.

But a key interception and runback for a Saints TD, a successful two-point conversion (after Further Review) and the Colts going Wide Left on a FG attempt, then fail to score... and the Saints WIN 31-17.

Congratulations, New Orleans! Party on -- and do it safely without incident. Please.

The Commercials

Some years I fire up my working notes file and type in the game and the commercials as they air. Not interested this year -- and just as well. Lots of lackluster ads. Far too many, and stupid, Bud Light commercials. Way too many misogynist ads or ones where guys show that the era of the sensitive New Age guy is gone, gone, gone. Why should men be nice to women? Geesh, if I have to explain that to you, then you're an asshole. Sorry.

One of the best I saw was the Google ad, which just featured the Google web page and someone typing in questions... about Paris. And a girl. It was cute, subtle, and ended on a nice note: "how to assemble a crib". Yeah, kind of sweet. Take that KGB KGB!

Second place may have been the Volkswagon ad where people saw a VW, announced the color "Red one!" while punching their friend in the arm. Last line, "How do you do that?" (blind-grin)

Overall, though, the game far overweighed the commercials -- leaving me rather pleased with the 2009-10 NFL football season. A rather pleasant surprise.